Thundercloud
Episode 10, Season 4 of War. Yeah. I'm crying writing it. Try to enjoy though. *hugs* Thundercloud You could probably call most of my squad hot-headed. Bad tempered. Quick to kill things. Whatever. The point is, I've seen each of them have to get tackled or something to stop them from doing something incredibly stupid or incredibly unwarranted. I once saw Shadowsong bean Oakclaw over the head with a dead rabbit so he wouldn't kill Adderscar for taking the only wren. And this time, with my little brother's blue eyes on me, Thundercloud's leering smirk, it's me, motherly, calm Brookfall who leads the charge. I make it a fox-length before I fall to the ground, the weight of another cat heavy on my shoulders. I expect to see Gorsefur's golden eyes when I look over, it's Stormflight's blue ones. "Let me go," I growl. "Brookfall, I love Riverkit too, but this'll only get him killed." His eyes are sufficiently agonized so that I turn my rage back to Thundercloud. "What kind of a monster steals a kit?" I growl. "Why can't you face us on the battlefield like a normal cat?" "This way I know I'll win. Besides," he pulls Riverkit closer to him, and my brother yelps. "It's fun to see that helplessness in your eyes." "You're sick," Stormflight hisses at him, standing by me now. Thundercloud shoots him a condescending look. "You'd better hope now, son." Stormflight narrows his eyes, shaking with anger. "I wish I was Badgerstrike's son instead of yours," he spits. Adderscar painted Thundercloud as the kind of ruthless cat who, when the one cat he loved was killed, turned into a soulless monster. But from the way Thundercloud's eyes shift, I can tell that's not entirely true. Stormflight sees it too, and plasters on a cocky smirk. "Yeah, he was a traitor, but at least he wasn't sick in the head. Or ugly. Or-" Thundercloud lunges at Stormflight and Riverkit, thank StarClan he has Adderscar and Briarclaw's smarts, runs straight for me. I pick him up and sprint back to where Gorsefur and the others are waiting. When I get to the others, I realize we have a few moments before the FireClan cats head for us. "Go," Gorsefur tells me. "Take Riverkit and run. You're fast, you can make it." I know I can make it. There is no doubt in my mind of that. But can I leave Gorsefur? "I don't want to leave you," I whisper. "We're soldiers," Gorsefur growls, "This is what we do." Well of course he gets to say that. He's not the one who has to willingly chose between her family and the love of his life. "I'll take him," Briarclaw opts. We all look at her. "I'm fast. And I'm not much help fighting." Gorsefur makes a split second decision. "Go." She does, pelting into the forest. Riverkit's wise enough to stay quiet, but his eyes are trained on mine until they vanish into the woods. Literally a second after they vanish, a wave of FireClan cats surrounds us. Thundercloud gets to his paw, blood and ginger fur of the same color. Stormflight is struggling to his paws as well, and I'm pleased to see he doesn't noticeably seem to have gotten the worst end of the fight. Thundercloud glowers at us, noticing Riverkit and Briarclaw's absence. "You're going to pay for that," he growls, turning away. A few warriors pelt into the woods. I hope they run fast. "Shadowsong..." Oakclaw whispered. She didn't look at him. Couldn't look at him. She had always assumed that her father was killed by rogues, killed because he tried to protect her rather than run. She had blamed herself for seasons. Now she had something new to blame herself for, though she knew she could no more control the FireClan blood in her veins than the sun rising or the forest growing. "You look just like him," Lionwing observed. "Don't," Shadowsong growled, glaring at her half-sister. "You gutted him. You don't get to talk about him." "Would it really be that bad," Snowflight asked, tipping her head. "To be our sister?" "That depends," Shadowsong meowed. "I'm guessing you didn't kidnap us just so you could helpfully let us know I'm half evil." "Which half?" Snowflight muttered, a rare show of emotion. "You're right," Lionwing said. "We brought you here to choose." Shadowsong's mind whirled. "Between WaterClan and FireClan," she murmured, eyes wide. "You're a great warrior," Lionwing praised. Her golden eyes narrowed a little. "Maybe as good as me. We could use you, and I would love the company. Snowflight's a little too moony-eyed lately for my tastes." Snowflight looked at her paws, eyes thrilled and shamed at once. Shadowsong guessed Lionwing didn't know about Stormflight, but she guessed something was amiss in her sister's life. "And what happens then?" she asked, feeling as though she should take some attention off the white she-cat. She liked Stormflight enough not to try and get his lover killed. Even if she didn't approve. Oh, StarClan, she and Stormflight would be siblings if he mated with Snowflight. She shoved that image out of her mind and focused on Lionwing's answer. "If you say yes, you come with us back to Thundercloud. Then to FireClan." "Thundercloud hates me," Shadowsong snorted. "Minute you leave me alone he'll try to kill me." Lionwing narrowed her eyes. She wasn't as good as hiding her emotions as her sister, and Shadowsong saw a flicker of doubt. "He won't. Besides, we're giving him that one," she nodded to Oakclaw, "To tide him over." "And if I say no?" "Then we kill him," she nodded to Oakclaw again, "And you'll come with us to try and catch us in a moment of weakness so you can get your revenge." "I have a name you know!" Oakclaw protested. I hate being predictable. She wondered if this was what Stormflight felt like. Constantly hunting, constantly holding everyone's lives in a single paw. "Okay, just give me some-" "You have to decide now," Lionwing interrupted smoothly. Her eyes glinted with malice. "So what'll it be little sister?" Shadowsong caught Oakclaw's eyes. He shook his head a little. Don't do it. But she couldn't ignore Snowflight, who didn't have to do anything other than stand next to him to be threatening. And Lionwing's terrible eyes. Shadowsong's eyes. Oh StarClan. The FireClan cats don't catch them. That much I can be thankful for. The rest of us sit in a circle. Grayleaf has patched Stormflight's cuts to the best of his ability and now the two of them are whispering quietly. Gorsefur and I sit close to each other, heads bent together. "What do you think we're waiting for?" I ask. He thinks for a moment. "Well, I don't see the sisters here. Maybe they were at the other patch." "Maybe Shadowsong and Oakclaw are coming to help us," I allow myself to hope for a moment. But, truly, as long as Riverkit is safe, I'll get by. I love Gorsefur, but my little brother is the only thing I have left of my family, my kithood, my heritage. Plus he's pretty freaking adorable. Not that Gorsefur isn't, just- I'm almost glad when Gorsefur interrupts my train of thought. "What are you thinking about?" "Riverkit?" I hedge. His whiskers twitch and I know he can tell I'm lying. But he doesn't press it. The minutes trickle by in silence. Grayleaf and Stormflight have stopped talking as well. I almost feel like I could drift off, surrounded by FireClan cats, because I have Gorsefur beside me. I think I do for a few moments, only to be woken a second later as Stormflight stands up. The FireClan cats all immediately turn, tails lashing and claws unsheathed. Stormflight rolls his eyes, "I'm just going to talk to my father," The FireClan cats look at each other, then, finally, one nods. Stormflight, still looking exasperated, stalks off to where Thundercloud is talking to Blazefur. "What do you think he's doing?" I ask. "I don't know," Gorsefur meows. "I just hope he does." Thundercloud looked up as Stormflight approached. He sighed and waved Blazefur away. "You fight well." "I know," Stormflight stood awkwardly for a moment, daring to hope for a moment that this would work. Thundercloud only tolerated that for a minute. "What do you want?" "I'm not sorry about what I said earlier," Stormflight blurted. Thundercloud's eyes started to get stormy, and he backpedaled. Idiot. "I mean, obviously I don't like you. But I also don't really know you. I mean, I've done bad things. All of us have," he looked back at his squad. "Except for Grayleaf, probably. And I'm not excusing your...very, very, very bad first impression. But I could understand. Maybe. In time." "I'm sensing an 'if'," Thundercloud meowed, but he looked pensive. "But," Stormflight continued. "I'm not even going to make an effort to try to understand you or get to know you or be your son if you're keeping my friends hostage or constantly trying to kill them." He took a deep breath. This could be their last chance. "So, I'm saying, if you let Gorsefur, Brookfall, and Grayleaf go...I'll come with you. No questions asked." Thundercloud didn't say anything at first. Then he tipped his head. "How do I make sure you don't run off though?" "Well, I'm assuming you have Lionwing and Snowflight," his voice hitched a little on her name. "Out fighting Shadowsong and Oakclaw. And I know you hate them more than anyone else, except for maybe me. There's no way I can save them. But the others, you don't need them." "I don't hate you," Thundercloud meowed quietly. Then, louder, he peered at his son. "You realize half the cats you're asking me to pardon are some of FireClan's Most Wanted?" Stormflight fought the ridiculous urge to snort at the mention of the ridiculous list. "If Gorsefur looses three of his warriors, I'm pretty sure he'll either get taken out of the army, or he'll be so broken he won't bother coming back after you." the words stuck, like honey and thistle in his throat. "And I'm pretty sure Brookfall's on there by accident." "Wasn't she the one who killed Firestar though?" Thundercloud asked, sounding almost...conversational for a moment. "Um...no." "Huh. Not sure how that rumor got started then." Thundercloud sighed. "Alright. Your friends can be released, once Lionwing and Snowflight get back." Stormflight felt his heart skip a beat, and it wasn't at the mention of Snowflight's name. He had, in no capacity, expected this to work. "I'll tell them," he started to pad away. "Stormflight?" He turned, to see Thundercloud appraising him with electric blue eyes. "I look forward to making you a FireClan warrior." Stormflight nodded and padded away, ignoring the chill that had crept into his bones. "No," Gorsefur meows, his eyes narrowed in that slightly annoyed, not yet full out angry mode. Stormflight rolls his eyes, "'Thanks Stormflight, for risking your life, so I can go live happily ever after with my girlfriend and Grayleaf!' 'Gee, you're welcome Gorsefur!'" he sighs heavily. "Seriously. This is flawless." "Um, there are actually kind of a lot of flaws," Grayleaf points out. "Like...more than the usual amount of flaws." "First off," Gorsefur says, his eyes getting angrier by the moment. "Shadowsong and Oakclaw and you all remain in Thundercloud's loving care. Secondly, you are Firestar's nephew, like it or not, and that makes you a powerful rallying tool for them. Third-" "Third, you know about five FireClan cats are eavesdropping on us, right?" Stormflight asks. Gorsefur looks like he's going to smack him and Stormflight turns to me, "Brookfall?" I want to tell him I totally agree with him traipsing off into the sunset with his father to save our tails, but I can't. Because no matter how angsty or arrogant or annoyingly in love Stormflight is, he's still in this squad. "I don't think it's a good idea." "Then you all die!" he yowls, losing his patience. "Jeez, are you all that fatalistic?" "Guys," Grayleaf meows quietly. "Of course not!" Gorsefur yells back. "Are you?" "Guys," "They will never stop chasing me! You all have a chance to get away!" Stormflight sounds so wistful my heart aches. "We can protect you," I say. He shakes his head. "That's ridiculous!" Gorsefur starts to pace, "We will protect you. We have this far." "Mostly," I mutter. "Guys." "I'm so tired," Stormflight murmurs, looking lost. "Of having to run, having to fight...I just want to be a soldier." "Guys!" We all look up to see a greatly exasperated Grayleaf glaring at us, unusually fierce. "Can I talk now?" We all nod and mutter apologies. "I have a plan," he drops his normally soft voice until he's barely whispering. "We can't let FireClan get hold of Stormflight. But we can't all die here without any kind of fight or escape. So I have a plan." We listen. Grayleaf takes a shuddering breath, leaf green eyes blinking shut for a moment before he opens them. "Medicine cats are covered by more treaties than the average soldier. Since we're peaceful and StarClan blessed, we can't be hurt by anyone." He meets my eyes, then Stormflight's, finally Gorsefur's. "Thundercloud already mistook me for Stormflight once before." "No," Stormflight whispered. "He'll kill you," Gorsefur says, his voice trembling a little. Grayleaf is the son of two of his closest friends, he's always protected the little tom. "He doesn't care." "But the others do," Grayleaf argues. "You all take risks all the time! You have to let me do this." "But-" "I'm a solider," he meows. "Maybe I don't fight, but I'm still out here, in the war. I know the risks," his voice wobbles a little on the last word and I just want him to be anywhere other than here. He's the best of us. This isn't fair. Grayleaf continues to look at Gorsefur, holding his eyes. "You have to let me do this," he says again, softer this time. "He might, I won't." Stormflight growls. "You're my best friend, I'm not risking you over this-" "Remember when they gave us food a little while ago?" Grayleaf asks. Stormflight, looking puzzled, nods. "That," Grayleaf nods to our left, "Is a poppy patch. They're common in this part of the woods." Stormflight's eyes widen. "You didn't." Grayleaf turns back to Gorsefur. "You and Brookfall will be okay, I knew you'd see that it has to be like this. You'll have to carry him," Gorsefur swallows, "Just like your father." Grayleaf manages a weak purr. "Come find me when you can, okay?" Gorsefur nods and Stormflight, opening his mouth to argue, starts to sway on his paws. Grayleaf's whiskers twitch in amusement and he lays down, curling into a ball. "I'll sleep for a while. So they don't see my eyes. I guess I'll see you all...soon." Gorsefur nods and Grayleaf buries his nose in his tail, as he usually does, and falls asleep. "Okay," Shadowsong shouted, losing her temper. "I'll come with you." "Uhuh, let's go," Lionwing turned away, only to stop as she realized Shadowsong wasn't following. "What?" "I just think it's weird," Shadowsong meowed. "I mean, I thought you were tougher and stuff than Thundercloud. Guess I was wrong." From what Brookfall had told her about convincing Lionwing to stop the siege, Shadowsong knew the she-cat had a rebellious, arrogant streak. And if she could exploit that, she could save Oakclaw. "No," Lionwing narrowed her eyes. "What?" "Well, why do you need Oakclaw? To appease him?" Shadowsong snorted. "That's cute." What are you doing? Oakclaw mouthed to Shadowsong. She ignored him. "I don't need to appease anyone," Lionwing growled. "I'm strong, tough, clever, and one of the most important cats in FireClan." "Obviously not," Shadowsong muttered, just loud enough for Lionwing to hear. "Get me some poppy seeds," she told Snowflight. Snowflight's dark eyes drifted over to Shadowsong. She knows, Shadowsong realized. But the white she-cat, whether for love of Stormflight or general kindness, didn't say anything. Just padded off to find what her sister asked for. Lionwing turned to Oakclaw. "You're going to eat the poppy seeds so you can't follow us or see where we go. Okay?" He nodded, eyes on Shadowsong. Snowflight returned, hopping on three paws. It made her usually placid face look even more disturbing. Like some kind of mutilated cat without a soul. Three black seeds stuck to her pad. She offered them to Lionwing, who was about to take them, when Snowflight turned to Shadowsong. "Wait. Make her give them to him." Lionwing nodded, eyes glimmering. Shadowsong swallowed and padded forward, holding out her paws. Snowflight, with some difficulty, shook the sticky seeds onto her paw. Shadowsong hopped over to Oakclaw. "As soon as you gain their trust, or as soon as you can," he meowed, quickly, softly, "You have to run. Okay? Come back to me, because I can't leave you again." Wordlessly, she offered the seeds to him. His voice rose a little in panic, "Shadowsong, promise you'll be here when I wake up!" "I promise," she meowed, barely squeezing the words around the lump in her throat. Oakclaw searched her eyes, then nodded. He ate the seeds and turned to glare at Snowflight and Lionwing. "If you let Thundercloud hurt her-" "Relax," Lionwing drawled. "You're getting verrrrry sleeeeeeepy." Oakclaw opened his mouth to reply, but he was already falling towards the ground. Shadowsong padded around him to her sisters, not looking back. "I heard that you know," Lionwing said loudly. "If you try anything-" "Relax," Shadowsong rolled her eyes, "It was a lie." I've done so many things in this life I'm not proud of. But this is a chart-topper. Lionwing, Snowflight, and Shadowsong pad into the clearing. As soon as they do, Gorsefur, who's carrying a snoring Stormflight, pelts for the woods. I chase after him, then realize something and shoulder him towards the direction the she-cats came from. Gorsefur looks at me, perplexed. "They didn't have Oakclaw!" I yowl over the wind in my face. He nods and sprints. I keep pace with him, though my legs long to run, to fly faster. We run for what feels like ages. Gorsefur must be so tired, but he doesn't say anything. I can see the self-hatred in his eyes, and know that when we get to safety I'll have to sort him out. We burst into yet another clearing and I trip over something and sprawl into a tree. I mutter a curse and look up. Gorsefur has skidded to a halt. He drops Stormflight and pelts back to the golden lump of fur I tripped over. Oakclaw. I scramble to my paws and race over. "Is he-" "No, just unconscious. Or asleep." We sit there, panting and out of breath until the sun goes down. I'm scared a FireClan cat will find us, but the patches seem to be spaced pretty well apart- The patch! I lurch to my paws and grab a big leaf, wrapping the medicine we're sprawled in inside. Gorsefur opens his mouth to ask, then his eyes brighten and he joins me. As we sweep the field, we meet in the middle and our noses touch. "It's not your fault," I meow. "Isn't it?" he asks, turning away and padding back to the others. I'm about to argue, but I notice Stormflight's paw twitching. "He's waking up!" We carefully drop the medicine and pad over to him. Stormflight blinks drowsily, then opens his eyes and jerks up, "Where is he-" I shake my head and he flops back down. It takes me a moment to realize he's crying. I don't want to see this. I turn away, almost tripping over Oakclaw. "Shadowsong, stop poking me," he mutters. "Sorry," I reply without thinking. His eyes fly open, the joy in them so immense it makes me feel better. But then his eyes turn confused. "Where's...? Brookfall?" He sits up and yawns, looking around. When he turns back to me, he looks so heartbroken I almost yowl in sympathy. "Where's Shadowsong?" "She and Grayleaf are in FireClan." He murmurs something and I want to pretend I can't make it out, because it's just too sad and I can't deal with it right now. She promised. "Let's head back to Main." I mutter. Gorsefur nods. Shadowsong couldn't shake the feeling she had of walking into a den of enemies. The FireClan cats glared at her and she struggled not to glare back. She would be at ease. She would be totally inconspicuous and relaxed. The only thing she was glad of, was that she thought she spotted Gorsefur and Brookfall sprinting into the forest. Carrying Grayleaf. She had been bemused by that until she saw the gray cat curled up where they had been. Grayleaf and Stormflight were best friends- Stormflight must have stayed behind and Grayleaf had to be given poppy seeds so the others could get away. Thundercloud padded over and she fought the urge to kill him as he looked her over. "Where's her boyfriend?" Lionwing gave him an innocent look, "We decided it wasn't worth the effort." Thundercloud looked like he was going to explode, smack her and kill her. Shadowsong wasn't sure if she wanted him to or not. Probably not- her sister was the only thing keeping her alive. He took a steadying breath and forced a purr. "Well, at least we have Stormflight." He padded over to where the sleeping tom lay and shook him awake. "Stormflight, get up." The gray tom lifted his head and when he opened his eyes, Shadowsong took a step back. Grayleaf's green eyes looked at Thundercloud, then her and all the FireClan cats. "Yes?" he squeaked. Thundercloud's yowl of anger shook some of the branches of the trees. He stalked towards Grayleaf, claws unsheathed, eyes promising death. The little medicine cat stood up and backed away. "Leave him alone!" Shadowsong yowled, pelting forward. "He's a medicine cat you twisted-" she leaped on him, interrupting herself, and clawed at his back. Thundercloud let out another howl and shook her off, cutting a gash in her side as she flew off of him. She struggled to her paws as he advanced. "This time I'm going to finish the job. I don't even care if you scream," he hissed. And then his eyes widened. And something in them dissolved as he slumped forward. Blood pooled from either side of his neck and Lionwing, Lionwing, hopped off of his back, working her mouth. "My jaw will be sore for a moon!" she complained. Shadowsong stared at he body of the cat she had thought was the most dangerous in the forest. Then at his killer. Her sister. "Lion-?" Shadowsong started, only to be interrupted by Blazefur. "Lionwing, why'd you do that?" he whined. "Firestar'll kill us!" She glared at him, "He was attacking one of his squad." There were unhappy mutters and Lionwing gestured to Shadowsong with her tail. "Everyone, meet me and Snowflight's new sister- Shadowsong." The mutters vanished, to be replaced with suspicious stares. Grayleaf was peering at Shadowsong. Are you okay? he mouthed. Her heart welled with gratitude for the little tom, and she nodded. "So, since he's dead, I'm commander now," Lionwing meowed. The FireClan cats nodded slowly. "What about the WaterClan cat?" someone called. Shadowsong looked at Lionwing, pleading. Not Grayleaf, not Grayleaf. Lionwing curled her lip and looked at Grayleaf, who was shivering a little, though he managed to put on a brave front. "You're a medicine cat?" He nodded and she shrugged. "We'll send him to some prison, maybe they can make him useful." The FireClan cats nodded and padded towards the border, a few ushering Grayleaf along. Snowflight led them, but Lionwing hung back a moment. She looked at Thundercloud's body and Shadowsong wondered if the she-cat was actually...sad? "Lionwing...why'd you do that?" she asked. "You don't like me." Lionwing looked up and Shadowsong could see it was disgust, not sadness, that colored her eyes. "The fool thought Snowflight and I were his daughters. Ridiculous. He was a sniveling fool, too cowardly to ever fight his battles fairly. And you," her eyes brightened just a little. "Are my sister." Half sister, Shadowsong thought, not bothering to correct her. "Let's go," Lionwing commanded. Shadowsong followed her, wordlessly, taking a moment to glimpse what could be her last sight of WaterClan territory. It's been a few days and things don't hurt any less than they did when I first listed them in my head. Grayleaf, sweet, innocent, Grayleaf caught. Shadowsong forced to go with her 'sisters'. Stormflight shattered by his best friend's choice. Gorsefur hating himself. Oakclaw, who worked so hard to mend his broken heart, is once again lost. When Adderscar woke up, he didn't want to talk for an entire day. I was the one sitting with him when he finally said, "You should have let me die." "Never," I told him. "I heard her voice," Which is the last thing he said for another entire day. Briarclaw quit. She and Grayleaf were close, and last I heard she was applying to some kind of squad devoted to liberating prisoner of war camps. Riverkit doesn't wake up with nightmares, which I was worried about. He doesn't talk about it, but when I ask, all he says is 'I knew you would come for me.' He's become something of a commodity in Main, a rare kitten hero. That new reputation got us a very nice den near Waterstar's. Can't say I complain. We're there now, playing with a ball of moss. Since it's just the two of us, the den is mostly empty, which means lots of room to play. I'm pretending to play dead, near the entrance to the den, when I feel something kick me in the back. I look up to see Gorsefur hurtling over me and crashing to the floor. "Ow," he mutters. I purr. I'm ecstatic- the last time I saw Gorsefur was a day or two ago. I told him to drop by, but he didn't. "What's up? Do we have a mission, because I know we're supposed to be on break, but-" "No. Kind of the opposite." Gorsefur sighs. A tuft of fur has gotten loose on his head and I long to smooth it over. But I pay attention. We are soldier and commander now, not Brookfall and Gorsefur. "Oakclaw and Stormflight took off to go look for Shadowsong and Grayleaf. Adderscar's moping. Briarclaw quit, two of my warriors are in FireClan paws, and you..." he trails off. "What are you saying?" I whisper, suddenly afraid. "I'm saying that I have an appointment with Waterstar today," Gorsefur says. He takes a deep breath. "I'm going to ask her, in light of all the things we've gone through, to officially disband the squad." Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics